In a great sign for Yesh Atid, Labor party chairman candidate, and Donald Trump imitator Erel Margalit set his Facebook rant machine on Yair Lapid. The post accused Lapid of being in the pocket of Yediot Achronot head Nuni Moses and of being an off brand right wing politician. Businessman Margalit, echoing a certain recently elected president, said that he didn’t need anyone to pay him off, which is why he could act independently. The post finishes with an appeal to Labor voters not to leave the party for Yesh Atid. In short, Labor is in huge trouble.

Meanwhile, Lapid was busy brushing up on his security credentials by supporting a movement to remove United Arab List MK Basel Ghattas from the Knesset. As a counter, Herzog said that he asked the UAL to encourage Ghattas to leave. He argued that the Knesset should not remove its own. Rather, it should be up to voters to send home Herzo…err Ghattas. Herzog is likely to give his party the freedom to vote for the initiative which requires 90 signatures.

Winner: Yesh Atid. Let’s talk coalition. In much of the analysis surrounding these polls YA is viewed as a center left party. Why? As this week showed, they certainly do not view themselves as left on security issues. Economically, they’re not particularly left or right (though in Israel the economic left and right frequently exist within the same party). This means that a Likud-YA coalition could certainly be in the works. Hypothetically, if they have 50 mandates between the two of them, any combination of Shas, UTJ, Yisrael Beitenu or Kulanu could complete a coalition. The question is if the voters coming from the Zionist Union will accept such an arrangement. Yair Lapid has the ability to make himself be what you want him to be, but follow through was unsuccessful in his first go around. If he can establish a clear message and a base though, our orange tinted friend will be around for a long time.

Runner Up: Likud

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